Tempus Vernum
by Araytigre
Summary: Set during RotF. When the Matrix chooses to throw the biggest proverbial monkey wrench in the grand scheme of things, it is Sam Witwicky that will end up paying the biggest price for it.
1. The Downfall of Optimus

**TEMPUS VERNUM**

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, nor are any profit to be made by this. All rights belong to Hasbro, and their other proper owners.

**Summary**: Optimus had warned Sam that "fate rarely calls upon us during the moment of our choosing…" Nor does it necessarily ever pick the best person for the job as Sam would come to find out. Ultimately however, it would be the Matrix of Leadership that would decide the fate of our world, including who would save it.

Setting :Taking place after the PA skirmish in RotF.

Warnings: There will technically be a character death, and may contain spoilers for the movie. Will also include some Generation one bots later on; such as Sunstreaker (Side's Twin), Prowl, Wheeljack, Mirage, and Ultra Magnus.

**Segment 1- The Downfall of Optimus**

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><p>He had watched in utter horror as the brave Autobot leader's optics dimmed, his tall form colliding with the ground in a symphony of shrapnel and crunching metal before him. Sam's heart throbbed in his chest as he ran for his life. He had no hopes or even dreams of what would come next, there was no one standing between him and Megatron anymore. It would haunt him every time he closed his eyes, that scene replaying over and over like a broken projector on his eyelids, the death of Optimus Prime in order to save him.<p>

He had originally ran to Bumblebee out of sheer relief, but as soon as he entered the vehicle he knew that wasn't it. His friend and guardian drove off like a bat out of hell, ducking behind Ratchet and Ironhide who were providing cover fire for their escape. When Mikaela wrapped her hands around him it was all he could do not to cry. One of the bravest beings in his life had just died, and all for him. It didn't matter if that had been Optimus' own choice or not, the guilt of what happened settled firmly on Sam's heart.

Leo didn't stop talking during the drive until Mikaela made a half hearted threat to 'nut him' if he didn't shut up. After remembering the bot she had ruthlessly smashed short hours earlier he complied instantly. Sam spent the rest of the drive in an uneasy nap in her arms, he tried to sleep, but all that came to him was that scene again and again.

It had been difficult attempting to calm his overstressed mind. What with Leo freaking out on them all and claiming that he was the one the Decepticons were after in the beginning because of his stupid website. That and the Allspark was sending him all sorts of signals that were haunting his waking vision. Symbols, characters, glyphs, vs the endless nightmare of the fall of Optimus Prime. Sam only wished that what Leo thought was true, and then Leo could be the one to deal with the damn Allspark and its mood swings coupled with insane amounts of information that humans shouldn't possess! He could also be the one kicked out of Astronomy 101 for flipping out so superbly instead of Sam, then he could be the one tongued by diesel robot chick Alice.

It was moments like this that made him regret his choices back in high school. Why the hell did he have to put on the brave front and get in the car? It all came back to what Optimus once said to him, "Sam, fate rarely calls upon us at a moment of our choosing." Fate also rarely cared who it picked, or if they were even wholly capable of doing what it was that fate required. He hated fate, it had dealt him a lousy hand and forced him to play it to the final bluff. His loss resulted in the death of a friend and several other injuries on his chosen college.

Sam thought that perhaps that was why sentient beings were doomed to misery. They had to play the hands that Fate dealt to them. He woke up draped over one of Bumblebee's warm seats, soft jazz drifting over the radio. His heart had stopped racing at least, the Allspark was still sending him coded messages that he had no way to understand. The symbols drifting across his vision were more like normal people and watching the cells float across your eyes lazily.

Bumblebee chirped a sad greeting, Sam forced a smile up for his friend. With no more than a pat on the dash, the door closest to him opened to reveal wherever the bot had taken them for shelter. The twins were chattering and pestering Leo, who was undoubtedly somewhere nearby judging from the loud protesting on his part. Mikaela sat against Bumblebee's hood seeming to be deep in thought, her expression was so serious he almost didn't want to interrupt her.

"Sam, are you alright?" Mikaela asked noticing that he was up and about at last. He felt himself tremble, his heart ached for Bumblebee, and he wondered if anyone other than the Autobots and Lennox's team knew of the Prime's fate. He doubted that anyone other than the fallen bot and himself knew the irony of their last conversation.

"Bee, what happens now?" he whispered at the bot. He warbled in response, apparently he hadn't told the others yet, perhaps he should tell Mikaela. "Optimus is dead…" He must have sounded pathetic, but she needed to know, "and it's all my fault. I should have helped him sooner, now the world is going nuts and trying to kill us." Bee warbled again, nudging Sam's legs. His girlfriend frowned, she allowed him to hug her with soft tears of grief. When he finally had his tears dried it was nightfall.

"Sam, it's going to be alright, Ironhide won't let Optimus' sacrifice go to waste, and neither will Ratchet," she held him, making him feel a little better. Everything from that moment on felt like his life was on someone's screen, and that they were reviewing every choice he had made. Fate it seemed had a cruel sense of humor, not that Sam wanted to encourage it.

Leo had crawled his way back to their sad excuse of a base camp for reasons unknown. He had led them straight into the less than enthused meat counter of former Agent Seymour Simmons of Sector 7 under the assumption it was just another blogger like himself with even more arrogance. The resulting conversation ended with them meeting a surprising old bot that called himself Jetfire. Shamelessly bad jokes and parachutes aside it had been an enlightening experience. Sam ended up beyond dizzy, as he and the others were transported via space bridge. When he blinked he was falling from the air, not more than a second later his hand had been crushed as he fell from the sky into the harsh unforgiving sands of Egypt.

It hurt like hell, his heart ached for the loss of so many innocent civilians and soldiers, and he must have looked as shitty as he felt. Bumblebee and the others hadn't fared much better for landings, but at least metal landing like that could be repaired. Ratchet wouldn't be happy with any of them by the end of this, especially not with him if he told Ratchet that it was his fault that Optimus had been offlined.

For right now he was seated next to Mikaela, sitting on the edge of the ruins that paralleled the Great Sphinx, it still felt unsettling. He reflected again on the activities of this last week, something felt off. He still remembered that during Mission City an Autobot, Jazz, had been offlined. The Autobot second in command had been given a burial at sea, same as the Decepticon leader.

Unlike Jazz however Megatron had been brought back to life again using the shard of the Allspark that had been guarded at Diego Garcia. With the Decepticon reactivated it was only a matter of time before something went wrong. Of course with that shard used, and the other used on Jetfire that left none to revive Optimus. Though was it really possible to bring Optimus back from the other side? They no longer held any shards of the Allspark, they had no way to know if Ratchet could repair the big bad boss bot back to his full glory, or to even close enough to normal for whatever Jetfire was speaking about to work on him.

Without Optimus what would the Autobots do? What could any of them hope to do against this new enemy? Especially when the only one who could defeat it was a Prime, the one who stood for everything… Sam wanted to cry again, but Mikaela had noticed something that his brain had yet to connect. Though her intention was romantic, it jogged the Allspark into pestering him, which was he needed. They were sitting under the stars next to the most beautiful pyramids on the planet. Three pyramids built by three kings to represent Orion's belt on earth, and what had Jetfire told them?

"When dawn alights the dagger's tip three kings will reveal the doorway," Sam repeated softly drawing confusion from his girlfriend, he lead her downstairs to wake up Leo and Simmons to announce their latest discovery. Leo hadn't been in Astronomy 101 long enough to get to page 46 of their textbook, the part where it explained that Orion's belt was also referred to as the Three Kings.

When he pointed this out to his comrades they quickly made their way to the Mountains of Petra as the stars pointed to. Sam was glad that Bumblebee knew where they were going, because he really couldn't tell one rock or piece of dust from another. Even with GPS it would not have been easy for the bot, but perhaps he had a more advanced version.

It took several minutes even with Bee's system leading the way, and at the end of their cosmic rainbow was a nice big slaggin' port of nothing. Of course there was also the fact that if it wasn't the biggest doorway ever made Simmons promised to do something humiliating. Leo called dibs on disproving that, Bumblebee had chirped excitedly at the bet, Sam and Mikaela were willing to bet the bot had evidence to that. In the mean time they studied the inside of the ruins at the dagger's tip.

It had all sorts of reliefs and mosaics, but no clues as to the whereabouts of this Matrix that Jetfire told them about. The Allspark did nothing to aid them either, it simply loitered around Sam's brain like the pink elephant in the room. Mikaela stood against him, she didn't understand either. It took the roughhousing antics of the twins to get a true breakthrough. Skids and Mudflap slammed hard against one of the frescos on the wall, and when the dust settled they heard a whistling sound. The same sound that anyone would recognize if they walked through a canyon like the one where Sector Seven was. The whistling of the wind, the Allspark went haywire as Sam examined the area. There were glyphs matching the ones running through his head beneath the plaster.

"Bee!" Sam looked at him. Bumblebee was quick to toss out the twins, he walked to the plaster and readied his plasma cannon. One concentrated shot later Sam felt like he was in an airlock from the amount of trapped air that fled the tomb they were searching for... The Tomb of the Primes.

Their hopes had been renewed only to fester back down as the Matrix of Leadership crumbled in his hands when they stumbled upon the long forgotten energy source. Sam fought the urge to scream in frustration, packing the dust of the matrix into a sock, daring to hope that with all his might that it would bring back the fallen Autobot leader. For hope was really the only thing keeping him going at this point.

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><p>Optimus had been watching this all from inside the matrix with a heavy spark, he had neglected to inform Samuel of the true fate of those who offlined. Even if Ratchet managed to repair his body, his spark had already been collected and in the matrix it would remain. There would only be one result if the matrix was used in the way Samuel intended… The former leader of the Autobots cringed, when Ratchet finally joined him in here he was going to get quite the earful.<p>

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><p><strong>AN: **Major Thanx and Assistance from Hittocere (hittocerebattosai and sparky-chan123 were great help too).

Please review and tell me how we did. TTFN


	2. The Spark of it All

**Tempus Vernum**

Disclaimer: I still don't own anything, nor any profits, Ever. All rights belong to their original owners.

**Chapter Summary**: Picks up where we left off, with a slight difference. Sam's life is about to have a little bit more adventure. Reviews are welcome and appreciated, wouldn't want to unleash the Hatchet upon you all now, would we?

**Next Segment 2- The Spark of it all**

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><p>Sam lost consciousness, he had really tried, honestly he had… It had been the death of him trying, though he hadn't expected to live that long in the first place, not with that many Decepticons chasing him actively. Sadly, he had been a scant couple of yards, he had been so f***ing close he could smell the dirt lodged in Optimus' prone form. Just a few more seconds and he could have…<p>

"Samuel James Witwicky, we have been watching you… for a long time…" the disembodied voice rang out, barely passing for more than a whisper in this vacuum filled place. "You have fought for Optimus, our last descendant," it continued in a slightly different pitch, "with courage and sacrifice, the virtues of a leader. A leader worthy of our secret…" As the different voices spoke to him, Sam knew this was what fate had arranged, a meeting with the Primes, there was one more standing off in the distance, a very familiar figure he did not recognize until he was already back in his own skin, the Matrix revived and in hand.*

He didn't have time to explain to Mikaela what was going to happen, hell he didn't really understand, and he had the freaking Allspark to cheat with! He scurried up the side of the fallen Autobot leader that Ratchet had attempted some repairs on, but not enough to bring back their leader. Sam plunged the matrix deep within the Autobot's chest, the light blinded him and for a minute. He briefly returned to that vacuum place where he had met the other Primes, only this time Optimus stood alone before him. The voices were off in the distance, and hushed tones possibly watching the whole thing.

"Sam, it was not my intention to burden you with this. I cannot keep you here long, but know this," the Autobot's voice held his attention, "whatever you choose to do, you have my support, even if I cannot be with you. Never lose faith in yourself Sam, for that is what makes you, you. Despite whatever appearance you may have, go forth Sam…"

As Optimus faded, and Egypt returned to his senses he tried to sit up and found himself rolling off of the body of Optimus Prime. He rose shakily to his feet, looking at the large bot in confusion, something was wrong here. Sam locked eyes with the Autobot leader's bright blue optics and found he was seeing in an endless chain of the same images.

Ratchet approached, but the Fallen was faster, removing the matrix sending the giant Autobot to his knees. Sam watched and felt the transfer of weapons and parts with dizziness. The electric waves of Jolt washing over the Prime's form feeling much like a shower of rain vs certain death to the little human. He watched as the world went black for a second, then oddly blue.

RATCHET

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><p>Ratchet watched with concern the reactions of one Samuel James Witwicky, but he had to make sure Prime was equipped to end this battle before he could check on the human. He therefore thought nothing of it when the human fainted and Prime took off towards the pyramids using the parts he had acquired from Jetfire. He did make a note to adjust Prime's circuits when he noted the odd flight path he was taking towards the pyramids.<p>

SAM

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><p>'Optimus, how the hell do I pilot this damn thing?' Sam screamed as he watched himself rocket towards the Fallen and his machine. There was no response, Sam could feel the sensors and parts working with him to the best of their capabilities. He locked his sights on the Fallen, and rammed the annoying bastard right off of it. As soon as he was clear, the human willed the cannon sitting on his right wrist to life.<p>

It sent a blast that Ironhide would have been immensely proud of into the heart of the machine, possibly destroying the machine and the legendary Matrix. The ensuing fight with the Fallen and Megatron sent the combat processors into high gear, and Sam had to admit, it was a feeling like no other to be caught in the midst of combat like that. He accidentally let Megatron get away, but that was alright… For what seemed like minutes to him he closed his eyes to take a break. It must have been longer than that though…

As he felt his eyes flash open he realized he was sitting in the palm of one concerned Chief Medical Officer. Beneath him was the familiar Peterbilt truck covered in red and blue flames. Ratchet was eyeing him suspiciously, Sam realized that the Autobot Medic would defiantly have noticed the difference in the Autobot leader. The fact was, he needed to speak with the medic as soon as possible as well, but the idea of Ratchet's bedside manner terrified him.

"Sam, if you would proceed to enter Prime's cab I think we need to have a chat," the Medic instructed. Sam felt his cheeks color rise, but did as he was instructed, sitting on the passenger side. The speakers inside the cab came to life with unsurprisingly Ratchet's voice. "If you would follow me Sam, we do have an aircraft carrier to board within a designated time."

The human frowned, Ratchet wanted him to drive? He thought about changing seats when he felt the engine roar to life at the thought of drive. "Doesn't this thing have an instruction manual or something?" Sam muttered under his breath, he was trying to figure out how to get the truck to follow the medic. He needn't have bothered, because when the medic started to move the Peterbilt followed without prompting, just as he needed it to do. Sam sighed, he could feel so many parts of this truck, the main thing he could feel right now was how itchy the sand particles were, in places that processors told him that sand had no business being.

"Is it alright if I speak with you Sam? The humans are trying to get in touch with Optimus, but I believe you have his coms either on mute or disabled," Ratchet's voice was coming through the radio again. Sam was about to nod when he realized that Ratchet could not see him.

"Sure," Sam said aloud, he wondered if he had broke the com when he rammed into the Fallen. He decided to think about the coms and was blasted by several loud voices, the majority of which sounded human. It made the cab rock with his discomfort as he silenced those coms again. "Ratchet, I don't think Optimus really came back when I used the matrix…" It was the medic's turn to chuckle at him.

"I had already figured out that much Samuel. It is my belief that his Spark is now one with the Allspark, and that your soul now resides where his spark was," Ratchet spoke with dry humor, "I will have Ironhide answer for 'Optimus' then, give me a moment…" Sam laid down across the bench seat, he tried to think back on Optimus' words to him. The Autobot leader had known!

"He knew! Ratchet, Optimus spoke to me for a moment while the Matrix repaired his systems," Sam blurted, getting a long whistle from the medic, "he knew, why else would he have said something to me about appearances?" The medic clicked, and chirped, or was that… "Bumblebee?"

"He's concerned," Ratchet responded, "he's following behind you, and can therefore eavesdrop. Ironhide is working with Sideswipe to clean up Jetfire's parts that Optimus shed as he rolled back to where you lay in my palm. It would appear that Optimus did in fact speak to you, because otherwise such a complete merger of brain and processors would not be possible otherwise."

"In English for idiots Ratchet, please… I'm having a hard enough time keeping up right now…" Sam answered rubbing his head. He was further aggravated by Ratchet's follow up chuckle. "What's so damn funny?"

"You're using Prime's processor right now to understand and speak Cybertronian Sam," Ratchet informed him, possibly picturing the look of disbelief crossing the boy's face. He didn't really have to think about it seeing as the engine of the Peterbilt sputtered at the thought, "not that it matters, Prime is no longer with us. All the same, what exactly did he tell you?"

"You know Optimus, it was not his intention to burden me and that he didn't have a whole lot of time," Sam was not amused that the truck was reacting to him, it took a moment for the little Autobot procession to continue, "Something about having his support even if he wasn't here. Gah, Ratchet how did this even happen?" The Medic didn't say anything for a couple of moments, Bumblebee was equally unresponsive.

"It must have been the Matrix of Leadership, but I will have to run more scans and tests to be sure," the Medic let out a whistle that sounded more like a sigh. Probably something along the lines of: 'Why couldn't these two glitch heads make anything easy on him?' Sam mused to himself. "Sam we're nearing the air craft carrier that will take us back to Diego Garcia, I would like you to remain with Optimus until I can figure out what all of this means. Would that be acceptable to you?"

"As long as I get bathroom and food breaks I don't see a problem with that. Will Major Lennox and his team be around as well?" Sam asked stretching out on the leather bench. He fiddled with the radio using his fingers, trying not to worry too much about just how strange it was to feel from his fingers and the radio's surface at the same time. He eventually settled on a rock station before Ratchet's voice entered the speakers again.

"Lennox and his team will be around, as will Mikaela and the others," the Medic answered, "I will have it made knowledge that Optimus is in deep recharge recovering from his wounds and regaining his energy after the last battle. That should buy us some time to figure out what is going on between your mind and his processors. It's safe for me to assume though, that you are the only thing controlling Optimus right now, his spark signature is completely nonexistent Sam." The boy felt tears prick at his eyes, his music resumed and soon enough he was drifting to sleep in the soft cab in the cargo bay as Ratchet discretely preformed scans and tested theories.

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><p>AN: *Time is about 2:16:00 in Revenge of the Fallen when this is occurring.<p> 


	3. Mikaela helps Ratchet

**Tempus Vernum**

Disclaimer: I still don't own anything, nor will I ever make any profits. All rights belong to their original owners such as Hasbro.

**Chapter summary**: Mikaela looks for Sam and helps out Ratchet, and he is hiding something from her.

**Next Segment 3- Mikaela helps Ratchet**

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><p>Mikaela approached the Autobots hanger wearily, it was the only place she could think of that Sam might have been spirited away to. It was not shocking to her to find her boyfriend stretched out in the comfortable looking cab of the Autobot leader in his alt mode. She smiled softly, letting the boy rest, and made her way towards Ratchet who seemed to be oddly preoccupied. She cleared her throat and found the Medic looking down at her with a soft glance.<p>

"Anything I can do to help Hatchet?" she asked, feeling the need to be useful in Sam's place. The Medic shifted his optics in a soft smile, then lead her back into his make shift med bay, two of the Arcee units were laid out in pieces all over the table. The blue one sitting in recharge it seemed off to the side.

"If you would clean the pieces off so I can make heads or tails of what will need replaced that would be fabulous. Have you seen Bumblebee at all?" the Medic asked her with slight concern evident in his vocal processor, "I haven't had a chance to debrief him on his end of the mission." Mikaela nodded, she had seen the bot up on the flight deck staring out to sea miserably. Maybe the medic could help with whatever he was dealing with…

"He's sulking up on the flight deck, with his legs strewn over the side like it's some kind of pier. It seemed like he was sad and lost in thought," she answered pulling up on the sleeves of the jacket she had been given. After securing her hair, she set about acquiring a couple of shammies. "How is Optimus doing, you mentioned something was off back at the pyramids, did you have a chance to ask him on the drive here?" She watched his optics shutter closed for a moment, and heard the escape of air hissing through several vents in a very sigh like manner.

"I cannot be certain, Prime and Sam have both sustained injuries that will require my full attention later," the Medic responded in an exasperated tone, "Since they are both in recharge finally, and since none of the injuries I have cataloged are of the life threatening variety, Arcee is my first priority at the moment. If that blue unit comes online she will feel nothing but emptiness, so it is our job to repair these units while she is still in recharge."

"That makes sense, do you want my help in the repairs like usual?" she asked finishing her cleaning of the pink unit, "or do you want me to wait with Sam instead?" The Medic shook his head, starting into the pink unit, Mikaela did note how it seemed like he was keeping something from her.


	4. Looking for Answers

**Tempus Vernum**

Disclaimer: I still don't own anything, nor will I ever make any profits. All rights belong to their original Owners

**Chapter summary**: Sam and Ratchet discuss what may or may not be happening to him, Ratchet meets with the big bad Admirals and such.

Chapter key/legend for communications in this Fic.

~If there is this '~' around a speech like this, it is a com between two bots,~ Ratchet commed. "See?"

"_If it's in italics and quotations like this it's Sam using Optimus' Voice through the protoform. We are all going to assume that it is the protoform's default setting 'cause Ratchet's the CMO not us,"_ Araytigre explained using the Optimus Prime voice, "_however, this is also how we type the person across the line on a phone conversation. We will try to make this abundantly clear who is speaking. If you have any questions please let us know._"

"Quotations will be used for all normal conversations out loud and when people are talking to themselves," Ratchet continued.

Single quotations can mean several things as you will see in the segment below. The first is a 'word' or 'concept' to separate it from the sentence. The second use is for the PoV character's unspoken thoughts on the situation. The third, and least common for us to use it as, is to quote or paraphrase earlier statements of the story or the movie.

Again if there are any points where it is unclear who is speaking, or if anything is unclear or confusing just leave us a question in the review. Enjoy!

**Next Segment 4- Looking for Answers**

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><p>SAM<p>

Sam awoke slowly, his head spinning in his skull, and a soft whirring underlining the dizziness. The boy sat up, slowly looking out through the windshield at Ratchet's waiting optics. Of course the Medic would be on standby, Sam thought bitterly. As a human being, he was after all now directly connected with Optimus Prime's systems with no Prime to control them. He stepped out of the cab to face whatever information the Medic had gathered for him.

"I collected what data I could without disturbing your recharge cycle," Ratchet was being as calm as professionally possible, "I do think that you should know this now Sam. The transference or linking of your mind and what were formerly Prime's processors is highly possible to be permanent." Sam fidgeted, he wasn't shocked by the Medic's words. He had thought about this when he had flown to face off against the Fallen, and he had also suspected it when he had spoken with Optimus. Distracted by his own thoughts, he walked forward to the front of semi truck he now controlled.

"So what do I do now?" Sam leaned against the hood of the Peterbilt. He stood before the Medic, understanding that the situation was delicate. "Obviously I do not possess the knowledge that Optimus once did, I can't simply step in and replace Optimus. I refuse to even try to do that, I respect him too much." The Medic knelt down in front of the boy, there was a brief scan of the area, probably checking to see if the door was locked.

"Ironhide and I will take over command of the Earth's Autobot forces, as long as there is a continued need for our help here we will give it. Your role in this will be whatever it is that you choose Sam," the Medic seemed so sure that it was permanent, "it is unfortunate that Prime fell, but the fact that you were the one to 'take up his mantle' so to speak is not so unfortunate. You already possess the Allspark Samuel, and Prime's processors will allow you to understand what it tells you…" Sam had given him an incredulous look, the Peterbilt behind him rumbled as something surged within him.

"I didn't ask for this Ratchet, it seems like it always falls on my shoulders," Sam now recognized this feeling, it was anger, "Optimus shouldn't have had to die for just my sake! How I can use what was formerly his body to fend off the invaders who would destroy the earth? It's just so unbelievable how twisted things have become…" He paced, hoping to figure out how to shutdown the rumbling of the Peterbilt behind him.

"If anyone else had been able to defeat the Fallen there, who's to say that they wouldn't have become mad with power and joined Megatron's faction anyway Sam? There was no one else more qualified," the Medic argued back, "if that isn't enough proof Samuel, there is the fact that you and you alone wield the Matrix of Leadership. You cannot deny its presence beneath the hood there." The Autobot pointed, and sure enough Sam could feel the strange energy it was displaying from his place in the room.

"I seriously can't deal with this right now," Sam breathed. He could feel the anger displace to sadness again, he walked out of the Autobot bay/Cargo hold area with his emotions whipping around through both his own mind and the processors of Optimus Prime.

It was maddening to feel the conflict of so many different emotions, the anger lodged in Prime's processors along with the betrayal that lingered at the borders of it. Sam's own mind wasn't much better. In a way it was worse, his own feelings of being overwhelmed by all the sensations, his human frustration at simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time... yet again.

"I can't do this…" Sam felt the tears slide down his cheeks silently. Who could you tell something like this, certainly not your girlfriend, nor a spaz like Leo. He wasn't even going to consider Simmons, perhaps... He might even need to talk as well… He passed Mikaela who was standing topside at the entrance to the hold where the bots were. She briefly glanced his way before returning to her conversation with one of military personnel assigned to guard the bots. Sam had guessed right, sure enough at the end of the flight deck was a blindingly yellow bot sitting looking out to sea miserably. He could feel the sad eyes following him, along with all the nervous sets as he made his way towards Bumblebee.

The yellow bot was letting out soft warbling noises, similarly to a toddlers crying noises. Sam could vaguely feel the bot's confusion and feeling of discontent, through what he had no idea though. He sat down next to Bumblebee, and giving him a soft smile when a giant hand nudged him slightly.

"Hey 'Bee," he sighed, he wondered if he could com the bot from here, ~can you hear me this way?~ The giant bot chirped yes, given the fact that he understood it he figured it was in Cybertronian. ~I miss Optimus~ Sam commed up to the yellow bot. Bumblebee let out a soft round of clicks and whirs, amounting to the same it appeared. Did Bumblebee just have his own language that wasn't even really Cybertronian then?

~I don't know what to do Bee, it's not like I can ask anyone really for help or anything…~ the boy sighed out loud, ~I mean there's you guys to help me, but what happens when all these government types figure out he's gone Bee? Will I be suckered into working in his place? Or worse end up on a table for dissection? I'm just so confused…~ The yellow bot looked down at him, his optics full of warmth and understanding.

"Just call on me brother, when you need a hand. We all need somebody to lean on*," Bumblebee 's radio echoed, his inner com however featured mostly chirps and warbles, ~we'll help you in any way we can Sam. You don't have to go through this alone, even if Optimus is gone… We'll go on Sam.~ The college student looked up at the cheery yellow bot, it wasn't really the way he normally spoke.

"What happened to you Bee?" he asked, "you're being odd today.." The bot warbled, Sam didn't get a chance to figure out what he was saying. His attention was directed towards the odd feeling shooting up his side, it was like a fingernail running across his ribs. He was about to say something, when the feeling made him jolt in place. "Something's not right, Bumblebee… Gah!" When it happened a third time he knew what the sensation was, and where it was coming from.

"What's wrong?" the voice was rough and scratchy, but it meant exactly that. Sam tapped his side shivering as another hand rubbed against one of the truck's side panels. Sam tapped into an Audio processor, he heard lots of shouting then one Cybertronian sigh of annoyance. Ratchet was being surrounded and interrogated. Sam shut the Audio processor down and looked up to the cheery bot beside him.

"Bee I need you to take me down to the Autobot cargo bay, Ratchet's been cornered," Sam growled out, he activated Prime's vocal processor, "_Please refrain from touching me!_" Bumblebee transformed, and Sam found himself becoming uneasy as the yellow bot drove down into the cargo bay. Ratchet held a wrench in one hand, primed and ready to throw at the first person to make him irritated enough.

"You have voiced your concerns, and you have disturbed Prime out of his recharge when it was medically induced. I will again remind you that while he is in recharge I am the commanding officer of the Autobots," Ratchet had an irritated tone, his wrench wielding hand was twitching. One optic shifted in Sam's direction as he snuck into the Peterbilt's cab.

"The Pentagon wants answers about the machine in Egypt and the boy who keeps becoming in on very classified matters," one of the military men spoke with annoyance. Sam watched for a moment as the men bickered softly enough he couldn't make out the words, he then sought out the com channel menu. It took him a moment to file through all of the coms listed, and another to actually recognize one as Ratchet's. Hell, he had even noticed one for Megatron in the listing, if he ever got the chance to speak to Optimus again he was going to ask about that.

~Ratchet?~ Sam checked tentatively, the Medic grumbled something about glitch headed idiots interfering in his work. 'What's going on?' Sam was surprised when a small chirp went off. Ratchet had sent him an email? He wondered what it was when his processers flagged it as a data burst, he wasn't really sure what a data burst was. When he opened the message attachment it unfolded like a cinema before his optics, there was a frustration like no other behind it.

* * *

><p>RATCHET'S DATABURST<p>

He had been working on Arcee when his sensors alerted him to an intrusion in the main hanger. He heard the Peterbilt in the other room sputter, he raised an optic ridge raised in surprise. He covered the damaged bot pieces, and then worked his way into the main part of the cargo hold. He recognized the symbols on their sleeves as ranking officer positions, he took a wrench out of one his subspace pockets.

"Can I help you?" he asked startling the men before him. The first one to speak was at the rank of Commander. Or the first one that tried to speak, the others kept looking over the sparkless Peterbilt. The Medic frowned, he wasn't sure how sensitive the plating was now that Sam was linked to it, but he was sure the boy was going to feel uncomfortable. One wiped a hand across the door and looked up at him in disgust. "You'll be addressing me! Optimus is in medical induced recharge. I'll ask once more, can I help you?" The disgusted Commander dusted off his hands.

"I'm here to inform you of your limitations upon my vessel. This is not a battle ground, nor is it Diego Garcia, it is my ship," he tried to hold the Medic's optics and ended up looking away after a few moments, "all Autobots will be required to remain in your vehicle modes until we reach Diego Garcia." Ratchet scoffed, while Optimus might have listened without complaint to the humans irritating and irrational requests he was not as patient. Another wipe across the Peterbilt door, Ratchet ignored the com from Bumblebee that came in…

"I cannot comply with that order, I have repairs to make and remaining in that form would make difficult repairs even more difficult," the Medic shifted his weight giving the man a glare, "you would not ask a human doctor to operate with his feet while blindfolded, I would ask for the same courtesy while I repair my comrades. I doubt I will be leaving this makeshift Medbay before we reach Diego Garcia." The officers, while unpleased also acknowledged that having functioning allies was a lot better than having dead humans because the bots weren't running properly.

"That is acceptable seeing as you are their Medical officer and that limits the chances of someone who doesn't have clearance stumbling upon one of you. What about the yellow one?" the levelheaded man appeared to be the one in charge, he also looked very nervous in cargo hold. "I am the new Liaison between the Autobots and upper non-military officials, Ferguson*. When will your leader be available for me to converse with?" Ratchet let his stare soften a little, this man was attempting to be polite at least.

"I will not be able to determine the full extent of the damage until we are back in Diego Garcia. Until that time Optimus will be listed under what humans refer to as Medical leave, Ironhide and I will be the commanding officers until the point when he is cleared," Ratchet explained clearly, "what other reasons did you have for coming here, I am very busy at the moment unlike the three of you." The pissy Commander looked at the liaison, who then looked at the third gentleman, he looked like a Decepticon in human form Ratchet decided once he had finally turned his attention on him.

"What is the Autobot's policy on interaction with civilians?" this final military official asked. Ratchet raised an optic ridge, he figured this was about Sam's involvement, speaking of the boy… This was the third time that man had run his hand across the door, was the boy truly connected to Prime?

"_Please refrain from touching me_!" the deep vocals of Optimus Prime rumbled. The man who had been touching the door scurried to the other side of his comrades. Ratchet held in a slight snicker at Sam attempting to sound like Prime, it certainly was polite enough, it just wasn't the reaction Optimus would have given.

"I thought he said that thing was deactivated?" the Commander whispered hurriedly. Ratchet was not amused with this person, were humans really this arrogant? He flexed his wrench holding hand, "I thought you said he was in recharge." The human spoke up this time, completely missing the fact that Ratchet had heard his earlier comment. He could feel Bumblebee's approach, and most likely Sam's as well since it was obscured by the scout's own spark. When Bumblebee rolled in Ratchet shifted loudly to cover Sam shutting the scout's door.

"You have voiced your concerns, and you have disturbed Prime out of his recharge when it was medically induced. I will again remind you that while he is in recharge I am the commanding officer of the Autobots," he replied in irritation one of his optics shifted in Sam's direction as he snuck into the Peterbilt's cab. The boy certainly had guts of steel at times…

* * *

><p>SAM<p>

Sam's eyes widened as the cinema before him ended abruptly, scant few moments had passed as he had watched the data burst. He was now thoroughly pissed and understanding why the need to throw wrenches was ebbing from the Medic. These guys, save the new liaison, he was alright, were actively trying to piss the Medic off and usurp power from the bot. He activated Optimus Prime's vocal processors with a glint of something in his eye.

"_You will cease your hounding of my Chief Medical Officer and direct your questions to me!_," Sam just hoped that it was in English because quite frankly he could not tell the difference between his native tongue and Cybertronian at the moment. "_What seems to be your current issue?"_ Sam realized the other man that Ratchet had yet to identify, the man in the suit looked like a cross between a sector seven and secret service agent. In fact he could have been former agent Simmons' relative for the amount of arrogance …

"How is it that a machine like the one in Egypt doesn't come to light until it is almost too late for us to react? How is it that we don't even know about it when it's been here since before the Egyptians built the pyramids!" the suited man yelled, "how do you expect us to react to your race when you leave nothing but a trail of destruction behind wherever you go?" Sam frowned, it wasn't that simple, it never was when the Decepticons were involved.

"_The knowledge of such threats was lost when the Allspark cube was destroyed in Mission City. That cube was the only source of our recorded history, there is no existing human artifact to compare it to,_" Sam explained, "_Your anger at that time frame is warranted, only misplaced. Humankind already had knowledge of that machine's presence on earth, and the files that identified it were in fact in the possession of Sector Seven. The fact that you could not read it does not change the fact that it was in your hands._" Sam imagined Optimus pointing a finger at the men.

"Is this true? I was unaware that Sector Seven had collected anything relevant besides a hostile alien that just about leveled the planet," the liaison asked. Sam agreed with Ratchet that the man was far more suited towards this line of work than Galloway. "Who managed to find this information anyways?" Sam gulped and looked at Ratchet wearily, hopefully the Medic could cover his ass on this.

"A former agent of Sector Seven, Seymour Simmons. He had previously found and researched the topics," Ratchet supplied, "without his help your sun would have been claimed." He shifted on his peds, waiting for Sam to finish obviously.

"_This comes back to the confidential act that requires us to share intelligence data with humanity, and not weapons. To share such technologies would be like placing a loaded gun in the hands of a four year old_," Sam continued, "_we had no way of knowing that machine was here, and once we did we sent the information along. In the future we will be more cautious regarding the existence of such weapons, but the fact it was here does not surprise us. That machine was designed for harvesting energon, a good comparison to a human equivalent would be the development of oil drilling platforms. There were rules established in the use of such machinery set forth by our ancestors, the great Primes of old, to never destroy a planet with life._"

"Yet this one tried to do so!" the Commander yelled, the liaison named Ferguson put a hand on the man's shoulder, "unless there's something else you feel the need to inform me. I would like to know before my ship spontaneously combusts due to some ancient device we don't know about."

"_No Commander, there is nothing for you to be worried about_," Sam responded, he sent a private com to Ratchet, ~now if Ironhide had been here to witness that… Then they would have something to worry about.~ The Medic suppressed a snicker, he let out a Cybertronian word that signaled he agreed.

"Who's to say they won't attack this ship just because you're on it?" the suited man questioned. That guy made Sam nervous, but then again ever since sector seven had knocked on his door that night Sam was nervous of anyone wearing a suit. Simmons was now disqualified since he helped against the Fallen and all, but Sam still detested suits.

"_That may be, but what if you're wrong? What if we're the ones preventing Megatron and his…_" Sam hesitated, the words 'cronies, posse, and minions' had also come to mind but Optimus was more eloquent than that… Ah, "…_followers from attacking your ship_." Sam enjoyed the slight bugging out of the Commander and suit's eyes. Ratchet let something escape from his vents, it sounded like a sigh.

"The only reason your sun wasn't claimed is sitting before you," Ratchet pointed at the Peterbilt, "and if you don't stop bothering that reckless glitch head, it'll be your afts on the line when he's pulled back from the front lines. Do you understand that?" The Medic chucked a wrench just above their heads. Sam had the Peterbilt roll back a foot, the men scuttled from the cargo hold like hell was at their heels, that or they knew Ratchet had about four more in his subspace pockets and cued up to throw.

Well, all but the Liaison called Ferguson, he remained, knees shaking looking up to Ratchet with an unsure expression. He was wringing his hands in nervousness. "May I have five minutes more?" Ratchet raised an optic ridge, but nodded wearily making his way back to the makeshift med bay. "Optimus Prime? I didn't have a chance to introduce myself to you yet. I am Peter Ferguson, the new liaison charged with taking director Galloway's place. On the behalf of the President of the United States, I would like to apologize for his conduct."

"_Your apology is accepted, but my chief medical officer will have you strung up by your ankles if you linger much longer. You know the human saying 'to put the fear of god into' someone? Ratchet is the Cybertronian that does that on a daily basis,_" Sam heard the beeping in one of the processors indicating Ratchet was comming him.

~I _heard_ that boy.~ The Medic retorted, he was in good humor now that the others had left. The suited man nodded before him, and actually walked to the exit. Sam was impressed, with sheer amount of animosity that had been going on before, he was sure that at least one of them would have shit their pants… Ratchet stepped back out into the main area once he was gone, Sam slipped out of the cab to walk up to the face the medic. "You handled that rather well Samuel."

"What were they hoping to accomplish with that Ratchet?" Sam hopped up onto the hood of the silent Peterbilt, "they had nothing to gain by acting that way towards you, or towards 'Optimus'. What was their goal?" He wondered, Ratchet walked over to his Cybertronian sized wrench, placing it back into a subspace pocket.

"I am not entirely sure Samuel Prime, besides wanting to control everything that they can't. They think that with Optimus placed in medical recharge and Ironhide the only other true warrior, that we are somehow vulnerable. It goes without saying that they have no idea what they're doing," Ratchet sighed, his vents opening in protest at the heat, "Samuel, they think that Bumblebee and I are the only ones that can fight on this ship. Here they think they can separate us and use us against each other. Humankind will not gain anything from this treatment they are giving us, but there are those like you who do care…"

"Not all of humankind are worthless pricks like that Ratchet. Optimus was right, it's not all of us that are rotten to the core," Sam looked to the Medic with a hopeful glance, "Mikaela's not like that, neither are my parents, most people haven't had the chance to make that choice. Look at Leo and Simmons." Sam could feel the tears threatening to streak down his face, he knew what they wanted now. Ratchet had a tinge of sorrow in his optics.

"It is ultimately your call Samuel, Optimus Prime left us at your discretion," the Medic answered, "ultimately, the decision will be yours with what happens to humanity. Right now however, you should focus on your recovery. Let Ironhide and Lennox sort those ones out when they return, go have yourself a nice recharge…" Sam looked up at the Medic, he saw care in those hard optics, he also saw a great measure of patience.

"Ratchet… there's just one thing," Sam sliding gently off the Peterbilt hood, "It's just Sam, Samuel makes me think I'm in trouble or something you know?" Ratchet gave him an ever so small smirk before nodding, "and Ratchet, make sure I get a front row seat to Ironhide and Lennox's return. Ironhide might get to use those cannons after all."

* * *

><p>RATCHET<p>

Ratchet watched the boy, no, their new Prime disappear into the cab of the Peterbilt with great hopes. Despite his young age, Samuel Prime would make a fine leader. He had the compassion to see them through, the bravery to be at the heart of it all, and strength of will to never lose the light Optimus so frequently worried of losing sight of.

The Medic waited for Bumblebee to return to the hanger to slip into his own recharge. It had been a long day for them all, not just Sam. Bumblebee would probably be in recharge before he could fully wake up from his own cycle.

* * *

><p>AN: I hope that wasn't too confusing for anyone. Don't forget to review. As the last side note for this chapter, we do intend to carry this story all the way through to Dark of the Moon if entirely possible. But we'll cross that space bridge together when we get there, now who's with me?

Songs used for Bumblebee:

Just call on me brother, when you need a hand. We all need somebody to lean on- Lean on Me by Bill Withers

Bonus Point to anyone who guesses who our Cameo is. TTFN


	5. Enter Major Lennox

**Tempus Vernum**

Disclaimer: I still don't own any of this, nor make any profits off of it, Everything belongs to their original owners.

Summary: Lennox gets a shock, and Mikaela and Ratchet discuss Holoforms.

**Next Segment 5- Enter Major Lennox**

* * *

><p>LENNOX<p>

Lennox was not actually onboard the Aircraft carrier when the first group of Autobots boarded, he arrived later via Blackhawk to the flight deck. He was immediately pulled off towards the Admiral's quarters for debriefing and left there almost swearing. He made his way down into the cargo hold that held what he was going to assume was a very hostile Medic. He had left Ironhide with the twins for the second carrier, and with Epps to keep the mech calm, but when they reached Diego Garcia…

The Major only stopped to get his bearings, when he stepped down into the cargo bay. It had been over 48 hours since Optimus Prime had finished off the Fallen, and chased off a severely beaten Megatron. No one had taken the time to explain to the damn Admiral that Optimus Prime was the only reason they were all still alive, that and the perseverance of one Sam Witwicky. Did the higher ups know or even care? No, they had just tried to argue with the only mech more dangerous than Ironhide.

Ironhide had a healthy dose of respect for human beings, and usually the business ends of his cannon's were reserved for Decepticons. Lennox was considering if he should ask Optimus to rethink that policy, after the debriefing he had barely managed to sit through… He wondered how the selfless leader of the Autobots could be so strong, and yet be so kind to a species as short lived, arrogant, and cruel as human beings. When the door opened he saw the yellow alt form of Bumblebee bouncing on his shocks before him.

'What's Bumblebee doing here? He's never let Sam out of his sight when he had the opportunity, so where's the kid?' Lennox looked around, there was no sign of Witwicky anywhere. The kid was a high profile target, and that car was never far from him, so where was he? "Where's Sam?" The canary yellow Camaro backed up and shifted into a mech. He walked into the back and towards a red and white tarp that Ratchet used to mark his temporary med bay, Lennox froze midstride, why would Sam be in with Ratchet? Yes, the boy had died for a couple of minutes, but what would the Hatchet want with a human boy? He continued only to find Prime, and Ratchet sitting in their alt modes.

"Optimus Prime? Sir? Ratchet?" Lennox looked at Bumblebee, then watched as Ratchet shifted into his mech mode. The Chief Medical Officer of the Autobots looked a lot calmer than the Major expected, yes their meeting had taken place two days ago… but the Hatchet was known best for his wrench throwing and repairs, perhaps he was under Prime's influence?

"Major Lennox, I was wondering when you were going to make an appearance. I need to debrief you on something, and what I tell you now cannot leave my med bay," the Autobot Medic shooed Bumblebee back out to the main bay, "because it will effect NEST you will be informed, and it will be at your discretion what misdirection your human government will have to be under. The truth cannot be revealed under any circumstances until Prime gives his consent on the matter. Do you understand Lennox?"

Lennox looked at the Medic, this was uncharacteristically secretive of him to act this way. He took a deep breath and thought back on everything that had transpired with the bots in Egypt. Then there was the unanswered question of the day, why would Bumblebee send him in here when he asked about Sam? The Major scratched his head then looked back up at Ratchet, the bot had his serious face on and Lennox realized a bit late that the bot wanted a verbal answer from him.

"Of course, I don't want to be looking down the wrong end of Hide's cannons," Lennox answered, hoping it wasn't too serious, "When will Epps be filled in, because if it involves lying to the governments of the world, I will not be going bat shit crazy—" Ratchet held up a hand for silence then lowered it so that Lennox could climb on, and didn't have to crane his head up or feel the need to shout responses.

"That was already taken into account. This matter is known currently by as little as four beings, that's how serious this is. You will be one of four beings alive who knows this secret until we reach Diego Garcia. The other Autobots will either notice or be informed at that time, Epps will also be briefed on the situation at that time as well. The information is beyond your government's level of Top Secret," Ratchet spoke softly setting Lennox down on his workbench. His optics dimmed for a moment, the silence seemed more damning than anything else. Lennox frowned, this was Ratchet mourning, someone who obviously shouldn't be dead. Only four beings knew currently and one was dead? What type of cryptic logic was going through Ratchet's processors at the moment, then Lennox stuttered out loud. "It couldn't be!"

Sure enough as he looked down at the Peterbilt, nothing seemed wrong to him when he entered, but now it just felt odd, almost cold. Optimus normally greeted all the humans he worked with on a daily basis, and he had never seen Prime in such a recharge that he didn't wake up to debrief the Major himself. Lennox now understood the need for secrecy, Prime had not survived… Wait a red hot minute, Ratchet's words said that he couldn't say anything without Prime's consent, if Optimus was dead or Offlined as the bots called it, then who was Ratchet talking about then?

"I'm making some pretty big assumptions here, but Optimus didn't make it back from Egypt, did he?" Lennox asked watching the Medic's face carefully. Ratchet's face plates contorted into a frown, "you were giving something a moment of silence like what human beings often do for their dead. Given the fact that Optimus hasn't said anything since I arrived it seemed appropriate to assume it was him." Ratchet nodded slowly…

"You are just as perceptive as Ironhide warned," Ratchet looked down for a moment, "but it is as you said, Optimus did not return. Not in the way the rest of us intended anyways, his spark has not been present since the forest where he fell." Lennox froze, he knew what a 'spark' was from his conversations with Ironhide. If Optimus had not been revived by the Allspark, then what had taken the down the Fallen?

"You understand the implications this has don't you? Something controlled him then, what if whatever is controlling his body refuses to agree to abide by the Secret Acts passed?" Lennox grabbed his hair, this was bad. This was worse than learning of the Fallen and not knowing a goddamned thing about it. Ratchet however remained calm, did he already have an answer?

"Of course we know the implications, Optimus himself is aware of the situation even if he is not among us. The one who control's Optimus' shell has already come forth," Ratchet pointed into the cab, "I trust you recognize him." Lennox felt most of the panic fade as he walked over to the edge of the workbench to get a good look. The form laying across the leather bench seat was indeed familiar, and it answered more questions that had been popping up in his stressed out mind. The biggest one being, was the person someone they could trust?

"Well… I guess I should be grateful that it isn't the Latino kid that travelled in with him…" Lennox walked away from the edge, he had no desire to fall to the floor if some sort of wave did manage to rock the aircraft carrier. "You know for sure it was him controlling Optimus?" Ratchet would have been the one to notice, he always noticed when things were wrong.

"I knew from the second I watched the takeoff with Jetfire's parts. Optimus has an uncanny knack for being graceful with everything without too much effort," Ratchet almost let what sounded like a laugh out for a moment, "Sam is what you humans refer to as a klutz, he has little grace. Still he managed to defeat the Fallen, even with his lack of combat training, and using a body he was unfamiliar with. That tackle was impressive though…"

"I'd have to agree," Lennox smiled when he saw the footage, it had reminded him of Football back in the states more than anything else. To know it was Sam giving the Fallen a sack and then a taste of what humanity thought of his plan, was semi priceless. "Is it permanent?" Ratchet nodded firmly.

"Sam and I have discussed it at length for the past two days, he'll be undergoing weapons training at Diego Garcia as both Sam and Optimus," the Medic offered, "I was hoping you would volunteer to teach him during the human portions. He has however made one request that I will require help on, trying to get him to change his mind. He still wants to continue his education…" Lennox tried not to laugh outright at the idea. That the kid still wanted to be accepted in a society that would have sacrificed him to some hostile alien robot had the Autobots not interfered in Optimus' place.

"I'll make the attempt, but he's as stubborn as they come Ratchet. I guess we'll know more about that situation when it reveals itself. Who is in charge with Prime's death?" Lennox switched topics, "the government is going to want someone in charge after all…"

"Ironhide and I will hold that responsibility for now, jointly. Sam's situation is unique, he will be recognized as a Prime in either form. He wields the Matrix, that alone gives him authority," the words Ratchet was vocalizing were meeting his ears after the 'either form'.

* * *

><p>RATCHET<p>

Lennox looked at Ratchet who had stopped talking as he had noticed that Will Lennox was no longer… as humans commonly called it 'entirely there'.

"Have you told Sam this? About him being recognized as a Prime?" Lennox asked. Ratchet hadn't mentioned the being recognized as such, but he had informed the boy that he was in fact a Prime. He wasn't sure if it had registered to the boy that he would be recognized by any bot as such.

"I informed him he was a Prime without a doubt, and that all the Autobots would know it as soon as they laid optics upon him, and that his spark signature is coming from Optimus' shell. He was quite nervous at that point," Ratchet summarized, "he could do with some normal human interactions for now, but I am hesitant to let Spitz near him after checking his website…"

"I'll see what I can do discretely, after all the shit he went through I'd say he deserves the clearance by now, wouldn't you?" Lennox responded, then an inquisitive thought crossed his mind, "do you think he'd let Ironhide show them his cannons for their disrespect two days ago?" Ratchet held his hand out to offer Lennox a ride down.

"He asked for a front row seat to the action," Ratchet responded remembering the comment, "he said something about, 'Ironhide might get to use his cannons after all'. He had even suspected your involvement as well." Lennox beamed, Ratchet wasn't sure what to think of that response. "Take care Major Lennox, and send Mikaela in when you pass her." The Major nodded, and Ratchet watched the human leave with a small whistling tune starting up as he passed through the tarp.

Sam was still recharging from their discussion the night before, he had left Ratchet a set of guidelines for anyone he told about the situation. The only ones he trusted with the knowledge of this situation were Lennox, Epps, and Mikaela. Not even his parents were to know of his new amount of responsibility. Whatever excuse would have to be left to Lennox, and that until he left college (or mastered being in two places at once) Optimus was to be assigned as his guardian on paper. Bumblebee would be swapped with Optimus on those things, and any negotiations about switching it were to be taken through Ironhide, Ratchet, and then Optimus (Sam himself).

When Ratchet asked the boy when he wanted to tell Mikaela all he received were stutters the first time. It was evident that the boy intended to tell her, but just had no idea how to go about it. He offered to tell her, under the condition that Sam followed his orders while they were on Diego Garcia. The boy accepted easily, and asked that if the result was negative not to let her near him. Ratchet did not understand this entirely, and the boy explained that it would most likely be a very traumatic experience for both of them if Ratchet allowed it to happen.

The Medic had to look up the phrase 'heartbroken' and found it to be similar to a Cybertronian phrase or two. As the boy said, keeping the two apart was indeed the best way of keeping it from getting out of hand. When Mikaela stepped in Ratchet was surprised to see the lubricants leaking down her face. She seemed stressed about something…

"Is this Sam's way of breaking up with me? The little coward isn't even going to come and tell me himself, instead he's going to let you and the Major—" Ratchet picked up the girl bringing her up to the workbench with weary optics. What sort of glitch was going on here?

"No, not from my knowledge, I was not under the impression. Though there are aspects of the human relationship in which I do not understand," the Medic said carefully. He had forgotten that Sam had not seen Mikaela since Egypt, and his conversations with Ratchet had kept him down in the Autobot hanger rather than with the human before him. "He is involved in a serious matter, and it is my fault he has not left here." The girl looked much happier after this statement, 'how protective Fems are of their Mechs… Regardless of species.' Ratchet thought to himself.

"How serious is it? Is he alright?" the worry in her tone made the Medic almost feel bad, "He died on me in Egypt Ratchet, I don't know if I could take going through that again…" Ratchet let a sigh circle through his vents.

"Samuel is fine health wise, but what I tell you here is only to be discussed in the confines of Prime's cab unless Sam tells you otherwise. Alright?" Ratchet waited for his human assistant to nod her head, "you watched Sam use the Matrix to bring back Prime. By all accounts it should have worked, but something went wrong."

"What kind of wrong are we talking about, is Optimus alright?" Mikaela looked down towards the Peterbilt, "he can't be…"

"Optimus was lost to us the day he fell in the forest. His Spark resides in the Allspark with his brothers, and the rest of our kind. The Matrix of Leadership restored his systems and processors to working order while he spoke to Sam. Sam told me yesterday that he spoke to the Ancient Primes first, and then to Optimus when the Matrix was inserted into his spark casing," Ratchet started, "Sam's spirit is in both his body and the protoform of what used to be Optimus Prime. Sam used Optimus' body to save the world in Egypt, while the rest us assumed it was Optimus." Mikaela said nothing at first, her eyes wide in disbelief. She was probably thinking over everything in her mind.

"This is… unbelievable," she was not as startled as he had expected, but still, "you weren't kidding about this being serious. No wonder you haven't let him out of here…" Ratchet nodded. She understood now the weight of the situation, and perhaps wouldn't be too harsh on him…

"We have been discussing what will happen when we reach Diego Garcia," Ratchet explained, "he will be trained in how to use Prime's body to combat Decepticons, he will also be taught how to defend himself by Major Lennox. If you'd like, I can continue your training as a mechanic during those times." That was the best offer he could make for her to remain close to Sam.

"How does it work anyways, him controlling Optimus?" she questioned. Ratchet hadn't expected that, but it was a sign she was thinking about remaining around.

"I am not entirely certain, Sam allowed me to access Prime's processors yesterday in an effort to find more answers as to how his present condition effects him and Optimus' shell. What I found has me intrigued," Ratchet had been dumbfounded when he first processed what exactly it was telling him, "I haven't completely analyzed the varying data, but from what I have seen thus far, Sam is registered as Prime's holoform, an Organic holoform."

"What's a holoform?" Mikaela asked, Ratchet then realized that none of the bots she conversed with used holoforms, nor would Sam know until after he had time to sift through Prime's memory data. That would be far more interesting to see…

"This…" Ratchet activated his own, and Mikaela's reaction was beyond amusing.

* * *

><p>MIKAELA<p>

She wasn't really sure what to expect, all she had to go on was the word 'holoform'. When a woman materialized in front her eyes, Mikaela found herself staring at this newcomer hesitantly. This woman had muddy brown hair and bright azure eyes that glowed with wisdom beyond her perceived age. She wore a shin length white doctor's coat, bell bottom khakis with a black leather belt with a chrome buckle, a plum v neck blouse, all of this being covered by that long white coat.

"This is the holoform I generally use, it tends to put the soldiers at ease more often than not," Ratchet's voice came from the woman before her. Mikaela then realized this was Ratchet, she thought that hologram might have been a better description to start with. "a holoform is a projection created by a mech or fem in an attempt to blend in with other sentient beings. For instance, Arcee uses her holoform as a rider to avoid suspicion while moving about." Well that made perfect sense, it was easier to hide what you didn't need when you had doors and tinted windows to hide the fact behind.

"Please tell me you don't use that voice with your holoform, that you use a more feminine one," Mikaela decided to ask then, the holoform raised an eyebrow, "a disguise like that doesn't do you any good if the voice doesn't match." Ratchet nodded agreeing apparently.

"Of course," the hologram responded in a voice that now matched its appearance, "we didn't want to be considered drag queens or anything. I only chose a fem appearance to put the soldiers at ease that I worked with." That made sense to her, a Medic as an attractive woman would put them more at ease than the grumpy fifty year old Caucasian male with salt pepper hair she knew Ratchet would really look like were it based upon personality. The question was what did the others choose?

"So… what did Optimus' holoform look like, before I mean?" Mikaela honestly wondered, but that was the only one that she would probably never see. The Medic dispersed his holoform and looked to be in thought judging by the way his optics dimmed. The bot finally settled on a displeased expression.

"Prime never used his holoform, he was content to let things unfold the way they did. I cannot bring forth a single instance where he used one, but I know he had one. Sam is the only one with access to it now," Ratchet voiced, "I would assume his holoform was male, taller than Ironhide's, and looked as human's term it 'country-ish'. Bots that have a holoform generally keep the color of their optics as their eye color, so his was probably deep cerulean. That's my guess anyways, Sam might be able to find memory data of Prime practicing with it though…" Which brought this full circle for Mikaela, her boyfriend was now half-alien robot.

Sam was no longer the same shy but courageous when needed boy she had started dating when Bumblebee arrived in their lives. Sam was Sam Witwicky, the boy who saved the earth twice, the boy who stood up to Megatron and lived. Now he was also controller of Optimus Prime, and that didn't even begin to cover all the responsibilities he could and might hold in the immediate future. Sam held the power to change worlds in his hands, he also had the heart Optimus once had as well. The earth was in good hands, Sam was nothing if not loyal, he was also incredibly selfless when given the chance.

"What will happen to Sam Ratchet?" she finally asked, she had a vague feeling she knew the answer. "Will he be absorbed or something into Optimus' shell? Will the shell cease to function when he dies? Will his human body be affected by this? Will he dissolve into light someday like a normal holoform?" The Medic picked her up gently, and had placed her back on the floor when he finally came to his answer. One that would haunt her all the way to Diego Garcia.

"I do not know," he responded quietly. Those words, Mikaela reasoned, were because the only being alive that did know was Sam. Would he know before it happened, it was unlikely to her at this point.

* * *

><p>AN: Extra special bonus points to Skyhighfan for their point, "Sam needs human allies in his new condition and Lennox can be trusted. He always backed up Sam when he needed it and would probably be willing to do it again." Glad to know someone thought so as well at this point, if you think someone should or shouldn't know feel free to drop it by in a message. Segment 6 is a major beast that keeps doubling itself, if anyone wants to know what happens next they will have to fuel the review monster with review-grade Energon. Thankies to SavvyEnigma for the constant feedback.


	6. Practice makes perfect

**Tempus Vernum**

Disclaimer: Nope, Still don't own any of these characters, nor will we make anything off of this either.

Summary: Practice, practice, practice, training, practice... Prep for Diego Garcia.

**Next Segment 6a. Practice makes perfect**

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><p>Mainly overview…<p>

It was a hectic string of days for Sam, spending time with the oddest assortment of people he could have imagined. Ratchet had been strangely welcoming to him, though that may have been because of his willingness to learn, and acceptance of the immense pressure of this new situation. Bumblebee had been in his company whenever Ratchet himself wasn't, and Mikaela choose to be down with the bots rather than being up on deck with the snobbish military men. If his time with Ratchet had been considered strange, then the time spent in the company of Major Lennox had been outright shocking.

Lennox had sought him out some time ago, and it was at Ratchet's request that Sam joined the Major in his resistance running. Sam spent most of his time down in the cargo hold learning Cybertronian customs and how to shift from bipedal to alt mode. Mikaela was there as a spotter, she was also there working on Arcee with Ratchet's instructions. The poor fem would have to remain in stasis lock for the duration of the trip and possibly into the next month given the nature of her injuries.

While initially Sam had been worried about Mikaela's reaction to the news, he began to worry himself more over remembering the different terms and things Ratchet brought to his attention. As they had worried, the mannerisms were so… Sam used the words 'regal', 'elegant', and 'sure'. Ratchet summed it up as, 'he moved like a Prime,' something about that observation didn't ring entirely true to Sam. However, it was pointless to argue with the Medic about such things. Just like no sane Mech would argue with a Femme, it was just the natural pecking order of things.

Speaking of the natural pecking order of things, resistance training wasn't nearly as strict as he had feared. There wasn't a required speed or posture during said event, the idea was to build lung capacity, Ratchet had mumbled at some point during Sam's mentioning of the day's events one afternoon. The Mech had been amused at the description offered up by his unlikely student.

The fact was that Sam felt like he was back in High School again, only this time with an extended session of PE and much more incentive to participate in the grueling physical exercises. Of course… nearly being killed by Decepticons on frequent occasions over the past week had also been a good motivator. Sam was not even the least bit surprised that he was unable to keep pace with the NEST soldiers at first.

They ran across the flight deck, dodging the wingtips of the jets that were heading for storage below, (Sam had checked. every. Single. Last. One. for a Decepticon marker). Then they were led at a sprint up exceedingly narrow and scarily steep flights of stairs (in Sam's case this included tripping up said stairs.) The NEST soldiers dodged people as they ran through the lower level of the communications tower, then bounded down another set of devilishly steep stairs (he had barely managed to stick the landing), and then to finish off the lap they ran through the hanger deck of the carrier. It took them past the hold where Ratchet was tinkering with Arcee's malfunctioning sections, because that was all Ratchet had to do besides teach him.

The first day had nearly killed the boy, he hadn't realized they did more than one of these. He refused to count the laps for they were only the warm up, much to his utter dread. The second set included a rucksack containing anywhere from a third to half of their body weight to run with. Mikaela watched in morbid fascination as he about died when they announced it was time for pushups.

Lennox had allowed him to do sit ups instead, for Sam knew for a fact he would have disgraced himself with girly pushups while the Major and the rest of this unit did them standard style with the rucksack added. Then with a nice quick sprint around the flight deck, and after a second more leisurely one, the men stopped, looking rather perplexed. It was interesting to see the group stand there awkwardly for a moment, the major later explained that normally he and the others would go shooting with Ironhide at the range to finish up a long grueling session. Unfortunately for the good Major, there was not a safe place on the carrier to discharge a weapon. In spite of everything though, Sam agreed to keep coming back for punishment.

He decided however that he would set a pace he could handle to do the laps. He found himself joined by the Major every morning, and after the man completed his own grueling workout he and a few men would join Sam to encourage him to finish his. Not one of them complained, and the conversations around him made Sam feel a lot less out of place. During the third or was it the fourth day, Leo joined him in the grueling workout, Lennox was pleased. Mikaela was the only one of them (the non-military personnel) without blisters for the remainder of the trip.

Blessings seemed to come in rare forms on the carrier, Simmons had been somehow unable to board the craft. Leo kept muttering some speech about 'one man, betrayed by the country he loves' whenever the agent was mentioned. Sam had to fight to keep the laughter away at the idea, Simmons was indeed a single minded bastard, and somehow Ironhide had hacked the call he made to Admiral… what was his name? No, it was Captain Wilder.

Sam had been laughing so hard that Ratchet had medically scanned him three times to ensure he could still breathe. Sure he was rolling across the hard steel floor holding his chest heavy, but Mikaela stood there snickering collectively just to make it look that much worse to the Medic. He eventually gave up trying to help the human, going back to his repair work.

It had been a much-needed laugh for the overstressed student, but he quietly surrendered himself over to the Medic for further instructions. In addition to all of the Cybertronian customs and mannerisms that he had been working on learning, he had also had to take a quick lesson in Cybertronian anatomy and the functions of their internal systems. The words 'Cybertronian Anatomy' had almost sent Sam running for the hills, if not for the quick reflexes of Mikaela, Ratchet might have had a runaway on his hands.

That had been an interesting misrepresentation of words, when Ratchet said anatomy, he had actually meant everything with the exception of what came to Sam's mind. Mikaela knew him well enough to fill the Medic in on his uneasiness about that, and that general area was left largely un-discussed for later. Sam had been more than grateful for that, he didn't think he could honestly sit through the 'birds and the bees' Cybertronian style with Ratchet.

Bumblebee? Maybe… Ironhide? He had other methods of persuasion that the Medic did not possess, and two very big reasons for that were introduced to Sam that first night. Sam would rather run resistance training with the NEST soldiers with his mother chasing them all with a baseball bat then sit through that awkward conversation with Ratchet.

As for the actually learning Cybertronian anatomy, Sam enjoyed those lessons. It was fascinating to actually know what cables and plates were what, Ratchet had numbed the protoform so that he could let them look through the systems first hand. Sam had at first questioned this decision, but when Ratchet reached the part of the discussion that stated point blank that some surface sensors more sensitive than human skin he had understood completely. It explained the sand notification he received on the way to the aircraft carrier.

Mikaela had been almost as enthusiastic as he was, even if it was going at a pace that made it difficult to keep up. She didn't have Prime's protoform to record every memory and store them for her though. Sam had been very appreciative of that, it almost made the thought of learning, what he assumed anyways, gigabytes of information at a time more bearable. The long end summary of anatomy was that like the human body, Cybertronian bodies required maintenance daily.

They required rest in the form of recharge for almost the same amount as their human counterparts. Energon, in its many flavors and grades, acted as their primary fuel source. It also turned out to have properties that affected the bots, like alcohol did humans, in the higher grades. Instead of sweating the bots were each equipped with a cooling system, which consisted of fans, vents, and something similar to a refrigerator's cooling system following their lines.

Ratchet had pulled up the line and explained that on planets similar to Hoth from the movie Star Wars (Ratchet had mentioned the movie was an interesting perspective on the universe, but largely inaccurate) the line would also act as a heater and keep the other important lines, like the Energon lines, from freezing up. It was amazing to see the systems up close, Ratchet removed parts of the armor so they could fully explore. Sam at one point had dove into a spot when he realized there was something lodged in what Ratchet had identified as foreign to the Mech's systems.

It wasn't the Matrix Sam had concluded, emerging from the hole he had worked his way into. The object in hand looked more like one of the pieces of Megatron he had ripped off during the fight, the faint traces of fluids and Energon supported this theory. The Medic had carefully taken the piece from him, he announced it was actually a part from Jetfire that had failed to fit correctly into its designated space. It had therefore been dropped there as a result, giving the Spark chamber more plating. Too much armor however wasn't good, it could accidently knick or create a problem if left alone.

The anatomy lessons lasted a grand total of three days, Sam also learned during that time the proper amount of Energon that he should have the protoform consume. After anatomy came the transforming, and subsequently came pulling weapons out of the protoform frame. The blaster was harder to pull out than the Energon swords tucked in his forearms. The hooks and swords however were a lot harder to control than the blaster, according to Ratchet anyways. Prime had come in with the blades stuck out a couple of times because of excessive force, and the hooks would come in a strange sort of usefulness the Medic mentioned checking over the weapons.

Sam wondered just how strong the blaster was, but he then recalled hearing the clank of shells as the weapon was discharged. Meaning it had ammo, Ratchet found the subspace pocket containing spare ammo and even he raised his optic ridges at the amount tucked away. When Ratchet discovered his lack of knowledge on that, and finding it interesting, he spent the rest of the afternoon checking the subspace pockets and asking Ratchet what each device was.

After two weeks Sam was now moderately sure he wouldn't blow his cover through movement alone. He had smoothly transitioned between Alt mode and Bipedal mode that he could do such while holding himself. It didn't matter that it took longer when he was working while holding something, the idea was that he would need to be able to use the ability under duress and/or threat. Ratchet holding a wrench was a very real threat, and being squished under his own metallic feet was now very high up on Sam's ways he did **not** want to die list. Right there next to being dissected on a table by Decepticons and suffocating in outer space.

Ratchet was correct again… The poise of a certain Autobot leader was what granted him a lot of his presence, and that was what Sam had failed to take into account. Being able to move effortlessly at 30 feet tall and several tons of Cybertronian parts was not something one became proficient at overnight. Driving Sam could handle, walking silently or awe-inspiring was something that even as a human he had yet to master. Shifting in a confined space where he had to crouch however was not a place he could practice said talent.

As a human however he could make the effort, and the brain's muscle memory would transfer to the processor. At least this was the Medic's working theory. Sam wished he could argue the fact, because he was a human (at roughly 1/6th of Optimus Prime's full height) he was also one of the most clumsy, uncoordinated beings the Medic had probably ever encountered in his long lifetime. It had taken every ounce of concentration the boy had to become aware of where all 30 feet of the Mech was at all times. The reason this became necessary was in fact because of the hold they were in.

With the landing of the aircraft carrier in Diego Garcia only an hour or two away, Sam was on his last moments of practice. It had taken him almost three weeks, but the effort had been paying off in a most rewarding sense. Lennox had wandered in to announce they would be landing in scant hours, he was unsurprised to find the Medic drilling Sam in shifting between alt mode and bipedal mode. The Major had never actually seen the shift however since Egypt, which was what Ratchet had intended. It must have seemed so off to him at that moment that the Peterbilt has became visible in the dust working its way towards the Autobot CMO.

Lennox stood watching them at Ratchet's request, the Major had a distinctly uncomfortable look but obliged anyways.

SAM

When Ratchet signaled him to start the shift from alt to bipedal mode, he kept his human eyes trained on watching Lennox. His concentration however was mostly in keeping his head from hitting the ceiling of the cargo hold. He could shift seamlessly now, but preventing the protoform from whacking its head against the top was something that he had yet to master. It was about being aware of everything everywhere at once, which was surprisingly easier to do as Optimus Prime's protoform than as his scrawny human self.

This was Ratchet's test for him, could he shift in a way that Lennox could not tell the difference between himself and Optimus? There was a high likelihood he would fail the task, but he suspected the Mech was not cruel enough to give him a test he could not pass. As he transitioned into bipedal mode he wasn't sure what to make of the Major's expression. It was somewhere between shock and awe, but there was a profound amount of respect there as well.

"Are you sure that Optimus didn't come back?" he asked quietly. Sam smiled, Ratchet displayed a soft expression his direction briefly, Sam could have cried. He passed with flying colors it would appear, but the trial would continue well into the next few hours. As the protoform he crouched and shifted almost on the Mech's knees to speak to the Major.

"_We are positive Major Lennox,_" Sam spoke smoothly, the Major appeared to jump, his eyes locking on the optics focused on him. "_you said that we will be landing in less than two hours, has there been any updates about the situation in Egypt?_" Major Lennox seemed unphased by this questioning.

"Epps has sent me messages, Ironhide's getting a bit antsy because he keeps having to respond to the redirected com hails. The twins are being a pain in the ass, but what's new about that?" Lennox started in the small banter, "my team is a bit antsy as well, but after the treatment you guys received at Diego Garcia they refused to take a plane ride back." Sam had to look to Ratchet, he didn't fully understand that comment.

"You'll have to cue up the memory of Galloway meeting Optimus, that should explain a good portion," the Medic offered, "as for the treatment at Diego Garcia… You understand us better than most Major, while it was irritating and rude, there was nothing you could do about it. For your unit to ride back with our comrades, we understand the significance of it, and we appreciate that you all are willing to show your disapproval of the situation." Lennox had never looked so ashamed as he had in that moment.

"I am glad that you understand Ratchet, I can only imagine what would have happened if you all had left like you wanted to. We would have been a screwed pooch," Lennox growled lowly, "I'm glad this new liaison has a bit more common sense. What did you think Optimus?"

Whether the Major was doing it as a compliment or to keep his cover Sam was grateful. He had next gathered to no respect as a human college student, but to be asked questions, and actually have his opinion matter? Sam was overjoyed at the thought, he actually mattered. Then he remembered that he had mattered to at least five people, and all of them had nearly died for him. One actually had, and that was how he was in this situation now.

"_I think it is too early to make assumptions about the man,_" Sam answered, it was his honest opinion anyways, "_he seems nice enough now, but we will not know his true colors until he comes under a significant amount of stress._"

"That is perhaps one of the most insightful statements I have ever heard you make. I agree," the Medic was smirking, "the man will show what he is truly made of in the face of pressure." Sam smiled fondly recalling his own defining moments, and almost cringing at the almost extreme difference between then and now. Ratchet and Lennox trailed off into their own conversation as Sam recalled the events leading to Mission City.

At the time he had been so uncertain of the world, and his place in it. He had barely managed to talk to Mikaela, he had suffered through the bullying of people like Trent, and he still found it difficult to deal with figures of authority. Still the day he bought Satan's Camaro was the day his life was turned on its head. That was the day he got arrested for following his car, accused of using Mojo's pain pills, and then later arrested by Sector Seven. At that time you could have told him the world was actually flat and on an infinite loop and he would have believed it.

He was gullible then, not that he wasn't now, he just had a better sense of how to play the game. He had also learned the hard way that assumptions in any situation are not always true. Just like he had assumed that Cybertronians topped out at 16 feet tall. Now that had been a grave error on his part, but still… Who could blame him?

Both Bumblebee and Barricade had been 16 feet tall! The first two bots he had ever met, and they both had the same height. Yes, there had also been Frenzy, but he was closer about 4 feet tall. In those first few minutes, even hours he hadn't quite known how to react. What was there to say when you realized, 'hey we're not alone in the universe.' It's a strange feeling and vaguely claustrophobic when that reality hits home, but all the more unnerving to realize that, no we are not alone. With the very real downside that we are not the superpower or dominate race of the universe like our military and government offices would like us to believe.

Getting back to his own bad assumptions, Sam recalled his assumption that Bumblebee and Barricade having been the relatively normal size for Cybertronians. Given they were roughly the same height (varying antennas included) it had appeared to be a perfectly sound theory at the time. Sam should have realized (sooner or later) that anything that involved Robots, Aliens, and Government secrets was never what it seemed. Sam had asked Ratchet at one point how tall each of the Mech's were.

He stated plainly that he was 23' from the top of his helm to the heels of his peds, Bumblebee was 16', and Ironhide was 26' tall. He hadn't originally answered how tall Optimus was, but to be fair, the Mech had been standing nearby when he asked the Medic. It was own fault if he couldn't ask the Mech himself. Numbers didn't really mean much to Sam at that point, so he had to think of another way to think about it. Ratchet was 23' tall, and he himself was about 5' 6". If he imagined four of himself standing on top of each other's shoulders they might reach the medic's height.

The reason he was thinking about heights was because Ratchet had no problem standing in the cargo hold, while it was obvious that he (as Optimus) did. The difference was a basketball player, seven feet… The result for not heeding his surroundings resulted in a very real headache for the boy. He remembered meeting Ratchet for the first time better than Optimus. How could he ever forget the several minutes of awkward honest to god embarrassment that the Medic had caused? Yes, Optimus had been mighty tall, regal and impressive with a voice that commanded the attention of all who heard it. Ratchet however was a blunt bastard of a Mech when he wanted to be.

'The boy's pheromone levels suggest that he wants to mate with the female,' the first words out of the CMO's face plates. Mikaela had been less than surprised, but the fact remained it was the very first thing he had decided to say without prompting. Optimus had even looked slightly embarrassed at his behavior, turning his head away with a very human expression of it, at least Sam wanted to think so. He looked over at said Medic, who was patiently discussing the matters they would need to cover when they were finally back on base with Lennox. Ratchet was one of the few people to whom he had a healthy dose of fear of, besides his own mother and Mikaela. Neither Optimus nor Ironhide could top the fear that the Medic could instill in someone.

Even with their cannons, and impressive displays of courage and bravery, none could surpass the fear that Ratchet could make instantly appear with only a look and a simple wrench. Fears that only a doctor could inspire, but he was the one able to make good on **all** of his threats. When there was nothing you could say or do about it… He had the bedside manners of a cactus to boot!

Undoubtedly, Ratchet would be the one being in the universe (not Megatron or alternately Optimus), that had the ability to make you question whatever deity you believed in without hesitation. Be it Primus, God, Kami, or your own inner will, was crossing the surly Medic truly a wise option? Judging by the fact that even fellow Autobots would back away slowly from him (including both Prime and Ironhide), Sam was not willing to test the bot.

He had hoped this effect would also transfer over to the human population that had met the surly CMO. Unfortunately, this was not so… As best shown by the attitudes of that sorry lot of morons, and their former liaison Galloway. Lennox and the NEST soldiers had gotten the message quickly enough, they followed the other Autobots example and stood clear. His mind was so focused on wishing that the others were afraid of Ratchet, that he failed to avoid the wrench thrown in his direction.

"Sam, focus your attention on the task at hand!" Ratchet grumbled. Sam rubbed the back of his head, it was already beginning to have a lump, even if it was the protoform that was hit. He winced as he probed the injury.

"That hurt…" Sam mumbled. Lennox let out a sympathetic 'ow', and Ratchet just snickered at him. He focused on the protoform, the HUD was flashing brightly at him. It was trying to inform him of a 'newly sustained head injury,' Sam deactivated the alert with a soft glare in the Medic's direction.

He moved the protoform closer to them, minding the protoform's helm and headfins. He had already an ear splitting headache in his organic body, there was no need to give himself a telepathic concussion. It was like going through puberty all over again, and it was no more enjoyable this time than the first time.

30 feet tall, all lanky but not heavy. It was so awkward, because at times he simply did not know how much space he had to work with. Things were so much bigger as Sam, that he simply took the extra space for granted. It was both frustrating and painful to misjudge the distance so easily. Ratchet had tuned his pain receptors up on the Protoform for this lesson in judging space, and had said that until he stopped showing such difficulty with judging the spaces accurately, the sensors would not be reset to their default sensitivity settings.

His hands and feet were often numb from these lessons when he ran with Leo in the mornings, in addition to the blisters from the endurance activities themselves. He wanted to cry and go back to bed pretending it had never happened the first couple of mornings, despite the support he was getting from everyone, but he knew it wouldn't change anything. He dreamed of a foreign land called Cybertron, and of Mechs (and Fems) he had never met or encountered before during his own lifetime. Ratchet explained the sensation as the Protoform's version of dreaming, only it was memories trickling between using his soul.

Some of these 'dreams' were more like nightmares than anything else, memories of fallen comrades, such as Jazz… Others were of comrades falling in the line of service (the memory of Optimus doing so in front of Sam's eyes had mercifully been absent unless specifically recalled during his waking hours), comrades falling to protect Optimus from enemies, not unlike what he did to protect Sam from Megatron.

"Focus," the Medic warned. Sam pulled his attention back out of that deplorable hole it had wandered into. They were maybe an hour and a half at most from port now, he couldn't afford to keep spacing out. He had to pull this off, otherwise it would be trouble for Ratchet and the other Autobots.

"_I'm trying_…" Sam whispered. He was thinking too much, he needed to focus on the now. Lennox's eyes were trained on him with a surprised expression.

"Make sure you stick to phrases that Optimus would use," Lennox added, "you have to be sure of yourself, or at least sound like it. Otherwise…"

"It would be no different than when you were running from Decepticons. You need to give yourself presence, at least through the protoform, otherwise the humans will take advantage of this situation," Ratchet added, "after defeating the Fallen and blasting Megatron, this should be what you refer to as 'a walk in the park' would it not?"

"I have to get topside for a moment guys," Lennox excused himself, "I'll be back before everyone disembarks… You'll save me a seat right?" He was already heading for the door.

"_Of course Major,_" Sam answered, managing to give the man a smile from the protoform, "_do you think we'll even be able to get off this ship with—_" Ratchet took another wrench from subspace and waved it around threateningly in one servo. That was another thing Sam was trying and failing to get used to, the strange terms that the protoform and Allspark were supplying his brain with endlessly.

"Get your indecisive aft into Alt mode before I disassemble you into scrap parts to fix Arcee's units!" Ratchet bellowed, causing the entirety of the hold to vibrate. Sam managed not to quiver where his biological self was standing, but only just barely, "We'll have no problems so long as you keep your mind centered on the present Samuel. Now hurry it up, I have things to pick up and you will only be in my way, out!" Sam found the protoform being ushered towards him hurriedly, and had the foresight to grab himself before he accidently ended up turning himself into a Sam-cake.

He could feel the pleased emotion coming from Ratchet as he shifted to Alt mode while holding his organic body. It wasn't difficult after so many practices, especially not with the way the processors and his human mind were so interlaced. He was actually better at driving the Peterbilt around in here, at least it didn't have the varying distances between servo and walls. He already was well aware of how to drive, it was just a whole lot bigger than Bumblebee.

He sat patiently waiting for Ratchet and Major Lennox to join him in the main cargo bay. Mikaela had offered to ride with Bumblebee, and Leo naturally decided to ride with Mikaela. Unfortunately Leo lacked a lot more clearance than Mikaela, and he was blindfolded and led to Bumblebee since he was not allowed to even see the alt modes of the other bots. He had been rather disappointed, but when Sam reminded him how much he already had for the real f'n deal he quieted right down. He was laying across the bench seat in the Peterbilt when there was knock on the passenger door. The Autobot CMO looked significantly decompressed from earlier. One window rolled down in response to the Medic's knock on the pane.

"Just follow my lead Samuel, and don't move until I do. I don't want to explain how my bumper was bent into a 'V' when you two glitch heads slammed into it. I have enough work to do without having to repair dents like that on myself," Ratchet instructed with his patented look, "and don't you even think about saying it*…" Sam looked at him in slight confusion. What on earth was he… Oh, that line! He decided to nod, he wasn't going to tempt the Medic into throw more wrenches in his direction.

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><p>AN: *Ratchet doesn't want Sam to start up saying, "Autobots, Roll out!" We all know it's just something Optimus gets away with, but now isn't the time for the cutesy remarks.


End file.
